E-pistle for September 3, 2010
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E-pistle
Dr. Dan Hite, President FreeWay Foundation September 3, 2010
"Receive the holy spirit"
(John 20:1-31)
Dr. Curt Scarborough
I. Concentration: on verses 19-23
1. On Easter Sunday night, Jesus appeared to the fearful disciples, v. 19.
2. His first words were, "Peace be with you," v. 19.
3. Later, He repeats His message of peace, then commissions them: "As
the Father has sent Me, I also send you," v. 21.
4. He breathed on them saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit," v. 22.
II. Meditation: on the events recorded here
1. Jesus spoke "peace" into an atmosphere of fear and doubt.
2. He allowed the disciples to examine His body . . . thus strengthening
their wavering faith.
3. As their faith grew, they began experiencing the joy of the risen Lord . . .
"The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord," v. 20.
4. Out of this setting, Jesus officially sent them out . . . just as the Father
had sent Him to minister on earth.
III. Revelation: on the spiritual implications here
1. "Peace" (Shalom) is the main message given to us by the "Prince of
Peace" (Isaiah 9:6) . . . peace with God, peace with ourselves, peace
with others.
2. Jesus' words: "Receive the Holy Spirit" was NOT to give them the power
to witness . . . that came 50 days later on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2.
3. This imparting of the Holy Spirit to the disciples was the experience we now
call the "new birth" . . . when the believer in the RESURRECTED Christ
receives the Holy Spirit at salvation. This event occurred immediately; when
Jesus spoke the words, it happened!
4. Jesus here called the disciples to evangelistic witnessing about God's
forgiveness, but He told them twice to WAIT for the anointing of the Holy
Spirit's power before beginning their ministry. (See Luke 24:48-49 and
Acts 1:4-5, 8)
IV. Applications: as a Christian, I need to . . .
1. Receive Jesus' peace into all my troublesome circumstances.
(See Philippians 4:7 and Ephesians 2:14)
2. "See and touch" Jesus daily, to increase my faith and to experience His
overwhelming joy.
3. Understand that when I was saved, by believing in the resurrected Christ
(Romans 10:9), at that time I received the indwelling Holy Spirit. Every true
Christian has the Holy Spirit, according to Romans 8:9.
4. Further, understand that receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation is not the
same experience as being anointed or empowered for effective service. I
need to "keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit," Ephesians 5:18.
Note the example of the Apostle Paul, who was saved on the Damascus Road
(Acts 9:4-6) but was filled with the Holy Spirit three days later (Acts 9:17).
How jesus mentored his disciples
(John 21:1-25)
Dr. Curt Scarborough
In John 21, we see Jesus "fathering" (mentoring) His disciples. Notice the techniques Jesus used
in dealing with the seven disciples (especially Simon Peter) who had back-slidden to their old way
of life . . . to their old jobs: fishing. In this passage, we'll :"read the red" . . . focusing only on the
words of Jesus.
1. Jesus expressed concern about the disciples' need, desires, and problem.
"Children, have you any food?" v.5. A good mentor notices and expresses
concern about the needs, desires, and problems of their protégés.
2. Jesus gave wise counsel and direction (discipline) which, when followed
produced positive results . . . based on spiritual insight. "Cast the net on
the right side of the boat, and you will find some," v. 6. Good mentors give
practical needed help because they perceive things which their disciples
can't see . . . they know where the fish are!
3. Jesus taught the principle of the blessedness of giving over receiving; the
priority of the spiritual above the material. "Bring some of the fish you have
just caught," v. 10. God does not need our fish . . . He has plenty! But He
does want us to receive gifts from Him with an "open hand" . . . to pass along
to others the abundance He supplies us. "Freely you have received, freely
give," Matthew 10:8.
4. Jesus invited the disciples to have intimate fellowship with Him. "Come and
eat breakfast," v. 12. Jesus wants to have intimate fellowship with us, if we'll
invite Him in, Revelation 3:20. As mentors, we also must graciously offer to
share our spiritual provisions (and ourselves) with others . . . an intimate,
spiritual friendship.
5. Jesus helped the disciples to "see beyond sight" . . . to have a spiritual vision
of God's destiny for them. Notice the process of gradual revelation in verses 4, 7,
12, and 14. Good mentors must gently guide persons to "see" and to "know"
Jesus . . . helping protégés to come to spiritual perception, to a vision of God's
destiny for their lives.
6. Jesus encouraged a cursing, denying, back-slidden disciple to a renewed
commitment based on mutual love. "Do you love me? . . . Feed My sheep,"
vv. 15-17. Jesus dealt with Simon Peter in gentleness, yet with "tough love,"
confronting Peter about his problem and its spiritual consequences. Peter
had denied Jesus three times; Jesus compelled Peter three times to assert
his love. We, as mentors, in spite of our failures, need to publicly exclaim,
"Jesus, I love you!"
7. Jesus challenged the disciples to hear again His original call to total surrender.
"Follow me," v. 19. These were the same words spoken by Jesus to Peter three
years earlier . . . and at the same location: Peter's wharf, Matthew 4:19. Earlier,
the Lord prophesied, "You will be called Peter," John 1:42. Later, Jesus said,
"You are Peter," Matthew 16:18. But here Jesus forced Peter to go back to where
it all began, to get a fresh, new start . . . calling him, "Simon" v. 15. We, as
mentors, must continually be reminded to revisit our original call to follow Jesus.
Our responsibility includes leading our protégés back to their original call, as well.
"If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never
regain their respect and esteem. You may fool all of the people some
of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time;
but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
--Abraham Lincoln
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